State freeing more sex offenders from mental lockup

New data suggest lower risk of recidivism

5:35 PM,
Jan. 31, 2014

Larry, here at Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, left the facility this past December on supervised release. He was confined for 19 years, most of them after he completed his criminal sentence for a sexual assault. He said he considers the commitment law 'double jeopardy,' as offenders face a civil trial after they complete their criminal sentences. Sand Ridge officials asked that the Center not publish the last names of the offenders to whom it granted access, due to concerns about medical privacy.

Written by

Nora G. Hertel
Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

Wuisconsin officials have nearly quadrupled the number of offenders released from state custody after they were committed as sexually violent persons.

The risks to residents are reasonable, officials say, because the state's treatment programs are working and new data suggest these offenders are less likely to reoffend than previously thought.

A total of 114 offenders were released from involuntary commitment from 2009 through 2013, compared to 31 during the prior five-year period, according to a Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism analysis of data from Sand Ridge ...